Two Battle Maniacs

The cafeteria buzzed with voices that morning, the savory, charred fragrance of roasted Soul Beast meat drifting through the air.

Lu Ren sat in a corner, his head lowered as he tackled the mountain of plates before him.

His appetite had always been astonishing. His powerful body needed vast amounts of sustenance, and this breakfast alone could have fed three ordinary students.

After a few mouthfuls of Soul Beast meat, warm energy spread from his stomach into his limbs, leaving his entire body pleasantly warm.

The ingredients here were barely inferior to those at Shrek Academy, and their nutritional balance was even more precise.

The chatter around him never stopped.

"That's him, the one who won seventy-eight matches in a row yesterday."

"I heard even Ji Juechen lost. He shattered Ji Juechen's sword with one punch."

Lu Ren turned a deaf ear to them and concentrated on the steak on his plate.

The girls' gazes were particularly ardent. They gathered in groups of three or five around neighboring tables, whispering and occasionally breaking into stifled laughter.

Some worked up the courage to sit beside him with their trays, chattering away.

Lu Ren never raised his head or stopped his chopsticks, only occasionally nodding in response.

The girls weren't annoyed. They simply sat beside him, as though being close to him was enough to satisfy them.

After all, Lu Ren was handsome and powerful, practically an ideal partner for the opposite sex.

Several girls sat near him with their trays, chattering and occasionally glancing his way.

Someone gathered the courage to strike up a conversation, only to be tugged back by a companion who whispered, "He's eating."

He paid them no attention, letting their voices drift past his ears.

"May I sit here?"

A clear, bright voice rang out, carrying a hint of cautious inquiry.

Lu Ren raised his head.

Meng Hongchen stood across from him, her silver ponytail hanging beside her shoulder, her large, aqua-blue eyes fixed on him.

As his gaze swept over her, her cheeks flushed scarlet, and she instinctively raised a hand to brush back a strand of hair beside her ear.

"C-can't I?"

"Go ahead." Lu Ren lowered his head and continued eating.

Delighted, Meng Hongchen sat down beside him.

The surrounding chatter instantly dropped a notch at this sight. Many girls looked jealous, but they were wary of her status. She was the hall master's granddaughter, a bona fide beauty with wealth and power, so they only dared seethe in silence, continually stealing sideways glances at them.

Meng Hongchen lightly pinched the edge of her tray, a faint blush still coloring her cheeks.

Watching Lu Ren eat with his head down, utterly unruffled throughout, she grew even more curious.

His crushing performance in the arena yesterday and his seventy-eight consecutive victories were enough to prove that, with his current strength, Lu Ren was undoubtedly the strongest person under twenty at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.

Even her grandfather valued him immensely.

This boy harbored far too many secrets.

After all, whose Four-Ring Soul Ancestor could easily defeat even a Six-Ring Soul Emperor?

From beginning to end, she had never seen Lu Ren give his all.

After hesitating for a moment, Meng Hongchen spoke softly:

"My brother offended you quite a bit yesterday. He was far too arrogant and conceited. I apologize on his behalf."

"It's fine." Lu Ren didn't even raise his head, chewing his tender, succulent steak.

Simple and cool, without any unnecessary emotion.

Meng Hongchen froze briefly, bit her lip, then summoned her courage again:

"Your power is very unusual. It's neither an ordinary Soul Master's Soul Power nor the Soul Tool attacks we're familiar with. Even Teacher Xuan Ziwen couldn't make sense of it. What exactly is your Martial Soul?"

The students eavesdropping nearby instantly pricked up their ears.

Only then did Lu Ren slowly raise his eyes, his calm gaze sweeping over her delicate face.

"Just a little ordinary foundation. Nothing worth mentioning."

An evasive answer, yet not a drop could leak through.

Meng Hongchen knew better than to press him and changed the subject:

"Grandfather asked me to tell you that he thinks very highly of you. Also, the whole academy has tightened security now. I heard someone from Shrek has set their sights on you. You must be extra careful."

"If anything happens, remember to contact me..." She paused, her voice growing quieter. "Uh, my grandfather."

Those words were genuinely sincere.

Lu Ren paused briefly before continuing his meal:

"I understand. Thank you very much for the warning. It's very useful to me."

Watching him remain calm and composed, as though his expression wouldn't change even if the sky collapsed, Meng Hongchen admired him even more.

He was so young, with heaven-defying talent and a steadiness of temperament that hardly seemed to belong to a boy.

No wonder her grandfather had gone so far as to promise to secure a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone for him.

"By the way, which department were you assigned to?" she finally asked the question she most wanted answered.

"The Practical Soul Tool Department."

Lu Ren set down his tray. He was in the same group as Ji Juechen; he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The two chatted intermittently, mostly with Meng Hongchen asking questions and Lu Ren giving brief answers.

After eating the last piece of meat, he stood up.

"I'll be going now. Sorry."

"Mm... all right." Meng Hongchen nodded and watched his figure disappear through the cafeteria doorway, her little face flushed. Then she lowered her head and poked at the food on her tray, the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifting.

As Lu Ren walked out of the cafeteria, however, he was thinking about something else.

Why did Meng Hongchen come looking for me?

Come to think of it, in the original story, she was a fangirl of Wang Dong'er when she was disguised as a boy... well, it's hardly surprising. This girl is purely obsessed with good looks.

He had barely taken a few steps when two people blocked his path.

Ji Juechen stood on the left, as taciturn as ever. He held a new longsword, silver-white from end to end, narrower and longer than his previous one.

On the right stood a woman with ordinary looks, an ordinary figure, and an ordinary instructor's uniform-the sort who would vanish into a crowd.

She looked to be over twenty-five, but her eyes were astonishingly bright.

"My name is Jing Ziyan." She stared at Lu Ren, barely able to contain the excitement in her voice. "I heard you defeated Ji Juechen yesterday?"

She had been pondering Soul Tool matters yesterday and hadn't attended the matches as a spectator, so she knew nothing of what had happened there.

Yet first thing this morning, Ji Juechen had come looking for her and said someone had defeated him, leaving Jing Ziyan thoroughly astonished.

And so she had come with Ji Juechen early that morning to find Lu Ren.

Lu Ren nodded.

Jing Ziyan's eyes brightened further. "There aren't many people in the academy who can beat Ji Juechen. I challenge you!"

At that, Lu Ren's face darkened with exasperation.

He suddenly remembered that this woman was a battle maniac too.

She and Ji Juechen might as well have been cast from the same mold.

They were both born to pursue the thrill of battle.

All he could say was that it was perfectly normal for the two of them to get together later.

"You're no match for me." He sighed and prepared to walk around them.

Jing Ziyan sidestepped, blocking him again:

"I know. Anyone who can defeat Ji Juechen is no ordinary person. But what if Ji Juechen and I fight you together?"

Ji Juechen raised his eyes, his gaze burning:

"After yesterday's battle, my Sword Intent improved, and I comprehended a new move. I want to challenge you again."

Lu Ren looked at the two standing shoulder to shoulder, one silent as stone, the other blazing like fire, yet the same thing burned in their eyes.

It was a yearning for stronger opponents.

"All right. Both of you, come at me together."

Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen froze simultaneously, then reacted.

"You said it!" Jing Ziyan was so excited that her voice changed pitch.

Both released their Martial Souls at once.

Two yellow, two purple, and two black-six Soul Rings rose from beneath their feet.

Jing Ziyan had once been called a girl genius. The reason she had stalled at Level 6 Soul Engineer was that she was too greedy: she dabbled in research on every category of Soul Tool and had never chosen a single path for herself.

Even so, she had still entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall and enjoyed a reputation as the uncrowned king of Level 6 Soul Engineers.

That alone offered a glimpse of her formidable talent.

Ji Juechen stood behind her, gripping his sword with both hands as a faint layer of gray shrouded his entire body.

His presence vanished completely. Standing there, he no longer resembled a person, but a stone statue.

An intense sense of danger emanated from that stone statue, stabbing straight into Lu Ren's Sea of Consciousness.

Lu Ren narrowed his eyes.

This was actually... a domain?

Had Ji Juechen comprehended it so quickly?

Although it was only an embryonic domain, barely touching its fringes, Ji Juechen was indeed comprehending a domain.

It seemed yesterday's punch had not only shattered his Sword Intent, but also smashed through his bottleneck.